I've come across an old darbuka (at least 40 years, please see attachment) that I'm not familiar with, and I'm hoping you can help me with a couple of things.

First, help identify this drum. Where is it from? Who made it? It's only a gut feeling, but I think it's Persian.

Second, where can I get the missing hardware? Obviously the skin is missing, but I have plenty of that. As I understand it the missing hardware consisted of an adjustable brass ring with a rubber grommet.

As most of you probably know by now, all drum heads eventually die. If your riq, mazhar, bendir, tar or other frame drum blows its top, I'd be happy to help. That's what I do. Just message me or contact me through my website.

I repair hand drums of all kinds and have been doing so for years. People find me through my website, and recently someone from the UK contacted me about a daf that needs repair. He says he cannot find anyone and is thinking of shipping it to Iran for repair. I'm in the US myself, so it wouldn't be very practical for him to ship it to me and back.

If any of your reside in the UK and are willing and able to repair this daf, please contact: Santos De Castro at santosdecastro@gmail.com

I repair ceramic doumbeks on a regular basis, mostly replacing blown out drum heads. Over the years I've used a great variety of techniques for tensioning and attaching the skin onto the shell.

This is one technique.

This is another.

And yet another.

Nowadays, I tend to forego any type of rope system and use a press to tension and attach the skin onto a doumbek. With any rope system I've tried, there comes a point at which the skin will begin to tear where the rope passes through the skin. The skin can tear with the press as well, but not before I've pulled the skin tighter than with any rope system.

Here's one example of a skin mounted with a press.

I've used skirted skins as well - skins that have a skirt of fabric sewn onto them- and these can work well, but I've had them tear on me also.

Any drum makers out there with an opinion on the best way to mount a skin on a daruka?

I realize this thread has been idle for some time, but it's such a good question I had to chime in. It's amazing to me that after 1700+ views no one but dHuGo has had anything to add, offering some great suggestions then going the extra mile and acutally trying some of them. WOW! Thanks dHuGo.

It's a good question for at least two reasons.

First, because a good answer can be applied to not only Syrian darbukas, but also to plenty of other drums and even more non-drums.

Second, because a good comprehensive answer is not easy to offer.

Let me point just one thing out. In order to properly clean a metal, one must first know what that metal is, and this is often difficult. Darbukas, for example, can be made of any number of metals and these metals can be plated with any number of metals. Now cosider that these combinations of metals vary from drum maker to drum maker and over time.

I prefer fish skin for doumbeks. Goat skin sounds great and synthetic skins can be cranked way up plus have other advantages, but I prefer fish skin. I also love it on riqs and would love to try it on other drums.

The problem is that, for years now, it's been very difficult to get a hold of in the US. No one is importing it. With great time and effort, I can sometimes get a couple of pieces from someone who's visited the Middle East and brought some home with them. I would love a reliable source.

Does anyone know of a reliable source in the US? Does anyone live in the Middle East and might be interested in exporting to the US? Anything along those lines would be great news to me.

I actually joined quite some time ago, but haven't returned until now. I expect to drop in much more often from now on.

Being a drum maker and big fan of Middle Eastern music, in particular the drumming, I hope to soak up much knowledge and insight from all the experts hanging out here. That's the main reason I joined in the first place - to learn and expand my knowledge.

But I'm also happy to share what knowledge and understanding I've gained from years of being around drums and drummers. I hope that whatever contribution I can offer will be of use to you.

The decorative metalwork is very similar to that of the old Syrian darbukas I'm familiar with, but this lacks the hardware for mounting the skin typical of the Syrian drums. I can easily believe this drum originated in Lebanon but can't say for sure.

Based on my knowledge of many types of drums and their construction, I can imagine two possible functions for the wooden strip.

First, it is meant to hold the skin in place by pinching it between itself and the shell's groove. The skin goes over the top edge of the groove, down and under the strip and up and over the lower edge of the groove. Glue might also be used. This technique is more commonly used with frame drums such as bodhrans.

Second, the strip provides a surface upon which the skin can be glued.

It's possible that this drum lost it's hardware for mounting the skin (something like a Syrian darbuka) and was modified accordingly.

Hopefully someone has first hand knowledge of drums like yours and can correct me.